Schneider version. This brew is the result of the long friendship of Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver and Schneider brewmaster Hans-Peter Drexler. Garrett had always admired the delicate balance of flavors in Schneider Weisse, while Hans-Peter had long enjoyed the effusive hop character of Brooklyn East India Pale Ale and BLAST! Garrett's concept for the collaboration was that each brewmaster would brew essentially the same pale, hoppy weissbock in the other's brewery, but with different hopping to reflect the local hop flavor.

Reviews by DannyS:

A - same shade as a normal hefe, very cloudy. Holds a giant fluffy layer of head that retains very well and leaves ridiculous lacing. A very sexy looking beer.

S - The prominent aroma I get is hoppy pine, backed up by sweet clove and banana. The hops and the hefe aromas go surprisingly well together.

T - A very light sweetness and fruit, balanced out by a peppery bite and a good floral hop taste. Clean finish with little residual bitterness.

M - The foam gives off a dimension of creaminess to the fairly carbonated hit on the palate. Oh so smooth and luscious.

D - It's so rich and filling, but also so easy drinking. I wish I could drink more of this liquid love, but the pint I had will suffice, as it's already filled me up.

Overall - Were you actually expecting a less than glowing report for this one? Seriously, how can you go wrong with a collaboration between two of the world's premiere brewmasters? This is absolutely a repeat buy for me.

More User Reviews:

4/5 rDev -2%look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance - This is a fuzzy dark orange in color with a nice white head.

Smell - There are some super-sharp citrusy hops in here that are full of spices and herbal notes. There is some nice yeast in here but it is really hard to find. The light banana though keeps this one honest.

Taste - These flavors remind me more of a stiff Belgian bitter, and then you have the banana and clove of the weizen style. This is really a complex beer with flavor combinations that I have never had before. I get everything from the nose with maybe a bit more malt.

Mouthfeel - Man is this a thick beer. It's almost full-bodied and is a meal unto itself. The carbonation is strong but fluffy.

Drinkability - This is a very different beer and almost impossible to rate using style standards or comparisons to past examples of the style. I know it was very fun and exciting to drink though so thumbs up for that.

Looks (3.5/5) – Pours a rich gold with some nice orange colours to it. Head is decent: it rises a bit small on a hard pour; it’s texture is a bit soapy; it falls very slowly to a decent cap that really lasts and leaves little lacing. It is really ridiculously opaque, which makes it look a tad dark.

Smell (4.5/5) – The smell is a really great marriage of the hops and the yeast. The yeast is very citrusy, it has some lemon, but it’s pretty firmly in the grapefruit- range. That’s complemented really well by the banana notes of the weizen yeast. There’s also some light fruit notes like orange peel and pear that come through on the finish that are probably yeast (maybe spicing or hops). I notice that the clove yeast aroma is relatively minimal, which I think works for the style.

Taste (4.5/5) – Really nice; it actually reminds me a bit of the Dogfish Blood Orange Hefe. The malt character is fairly mild, but falls into a lightly sweet graininess and a bit of that distinctive wheat flavour a bit of crystal and/or biscuit. The hops are of the same, primarily grapefruit flavour. There’s some citrus and a very little bit of resin, but this is really about that one citrus flavour. That plays really well with the yeast, which is more complexly fruity than many hefeweizens; the banana plays really well with the grapefruit, adding a bit of softness to the harsher grapefruit flavour, but there is also a good assortment of other fruity notes (pear, peach, apricot, etc) with a bit of high-alcohol perfume in there. A high-medium hop bitterness carries through the end with the grapefruit flavour the really balance the sweetness.

Feel (4/5) – I think this one was like a really good hefeweizen in its feel. Light-Medium body and relatively good carbonation (actually a touch lower than usual here) mix with the mouth-coating hops and a slight hint of alcohol to make it feel something like whipped cream.

The balance of this brew is really something great. The new world hops with that grapefruit flavour meets really well with the hefeweizen yeast. I think this mix was especially good because that yeast – for whatever reason – seemed to have a bit less clove. Now, I love clove in my traditional hefeweizens, but this just played it so well. It’s rare that these beers pop up in the LCBO and I love it when they do.

Spicy yeast, wheat body. More spices in this than the typical banana profiles. A bit more subdued than the aroma indicated. Don't know what else to say about it. Tasty, typical hefe taste for me. As it warms some alcohol become noticable.

Nice full body. Crispness introduced by the carbonation, a bit prickly actually.

Overall a tasty beer and a bit unique with its level of hoppiness, especially in the aroma. Good stuff and worth a try.

500 ml bottle served in a large Kapuziner wiessbier glass. Pours a murky amber body with a titanic offwhite head that initially occupies most of the glass. Second pour with the yeast swirled in produces a dirty mustard brown color. Head retains well and becomes rocky and pitted.

Tastes just like what I imagine a mixture of an IPA and Hefe would be. Citrusy grapefruit bitterness trumps the faint banana note. Clove and white pepper add a pleasant spiciness. Wheat is subdued but yeast is a major player. Finishes grapefruity bitter somewhat like an IPA.

An interesting collaberation to be sure and exquisitely crafted. Personally, I just don't care a great deal for such an aggressively hopped German Hefe.

Good god. Stick your nose into this recently-poured beer, and you just get a fruit bouquet to your dome. Primarily orange notes, with other fruits (imagine a good, fresh, fruit salad smell with good-sized orange slices).

Taste is hoppy, but not overly so--accenting the fruitiness of the hops without too much of the bitter. The bitter is best defined as 'citrus rind', on the back end of the taste. Wheat and subtle spices play around with the citrus notes throughout, and get better as the beer warms up.

The beer looks amazing, with ample yeast clouding up the brownish-yellow liquid. I'm not much for judging amount of head or anything, but it behaves much like any other Schneider Weisse beer. But--it's nothing like their Aventinus.

The warmth from the alcohol tells me this is a great autumn beer; could pass for summer, too. Hell, I'm going to drink this all the time, now. It's that damn good.

The second in consecutive days of the great collaberation stuff from Brroklyn and Schneider and bothe are great beers in my mind.Poured into my Aventinus glass a mix of light goden and peach with a very nice fluff-sticky white head just a great pour,citrus dominates the nose with a bit of spice,wow 8.2% ABV couldnt be more well hidden its just fresh and citrusy with light spice and good leafy herbal notes.I really liked this beer maybe even a little more than the American variety its just refreshing and flavorful great for a warm day.

A: Yellow with brown hues, plenty of yeast haze. 4 cm white airy head that dissipates after a while, while leaving nice lacings on the glass.

S: Nice hop character up front - grapefruit, grass an resins, some pine-needles. Banana. Some yeast. Quite a lot of white pepper. Decent malt character beneath - white bread, wheat. Quite nice overall, but there are some notes that are slightly too assertive, not really harmonious.

T: The taste is not as impressive as the smell. Again, there are plenty of hops, but they are not as well defined as in the smell (grape, grass, floral notes). A rather sweet and juicy malty backbone mixes with a prominent spicy character (mostly white pepper). Some flavors of bubblegum, and of course banana. The finish is mildly bitter and dominated by a very sweet and sticky taste of alcohol, making the beer slightly perfumy. Faint mineral-notes, bread and hints of lemon lingers in the mouth.

M: Moderate body, plenty of carbonation but the bubbles are rather calm. Slightly chewy due to the alcohol.

D: This is a rather good beer, but for some reason it didn't really do it for me. This one proves that more hops is not always better. It lacks balance, the flavors are not integrated with each other and the alcohol is too prominent.

OMG! this might be the greatest beer I have ever had!... It is the best of both worlds... the centurys of German knowledge in brewing ...combined with the hop craze on this side of the pond... equals what I would say is a hybrid between an American IPA and a german hefe- weisse!... I can't believe I have never heard of or read any posts on this brew... It is only a matter of time before everyone gets hip to this... and it will be untouchable...

Pours into my glass a hazy dark yellow with a creamy two finger head and lots of active carbonation with some patches of lacing. Aromas start with somewhat toasted grains that quickly gives way to a blast of spicy, herbal hops. Yeast, cloves and a touch of fruitiness. The noble hops really lead the way here and mask much of the standard weiss aromas. Interesting.

First sip brings a toasted grain maltiness with a hint of caramel. It's easily overshadowed though by a huge spicy, herbal hop flavor. Somewhat floral as well and quite unique. As it flows down there's a nice yeasty hit with some cloves and a fruity aspect as well. Finishes with a sturdy hop bitterness and a lingering hop flavor. An interesting weizenbock without a doubt.

Mouthfeel is on the lighter side with huge carbonation that makes it a bit prickly and adds some creaminess at the same time. Goes down pretty easily. Overall, this one just doesn't really grab me, maybe I'm not a fan of this particular hop. Either way it's an interesting collaboration with a big punch of hops. It's still worth trying at least once if you can find it.

Pours a hazy gold. Nice head, but not long lasting.Aroma is of hay, a bit of alcohol and a lot of juicyfruit bubblegum.Taste is solid, with a nice sweet malt flavor, some banana, and still a lot of bubblegum. Very nice.As it warms though, the brew picks up too much of the alcohol flavor, so it takes a hit on drinkability.Overall, a very nice, solid beer, that I plan on picking up some more bottles of.

Presentation: (Part of a 5 pack gift set with glass.) It was poured from a brown 500ml bottle into the Aventinus glass that came with the beer. The label on the bottle has the abv (8.2%) and a description of the beer on the back. There is no freshness date but there seems to be a batch number or bottle code on the back label.

Appearance: It has a thick cloudy, yeasty looking body with a tan/orange color and a tall white head. The head fades fairly fast and leaves just a small ring of foam on top. Lacing is minimal and spotty and slick.

Smell: The aroma has a good wheat bready and yeasty character with hints of ripe banana and citrusy herbal hops.

Taste/Palate: There is a good bit of bready/yeasty character and flavor. I get mild notes of banana, pineapple, clove and hints of orange. The hop profile is more noticeable than most Weizenbocks and adds a good balance of spicy, herbal, (almost minty) and citrus bitterness. The palate has a smooth and silky, almost oily texture with mellow carbonation.

Notes: The hop balance gives this beer a nice complexity and interesting flavor. This is one to seek out, especially if you liked the Brooklyn version.

Typical mid size German type bottle, has some sort of info on the rear label, but I can't make any sense of it. Got to love Brewery taking chances, working together and trying to push the friggin envelope a bit more...this offering pours very cloudy ripe apricot, with a frothy light tan head, plenty of loose head, sloppy lacing and better then moderate retention and carbonation. Yeasty, hoppy, flavorful brew. Nose of bananas, yeast, coriander, ginger. On the tongue I get notes of more of the same, also some peppery spice, mustard seeds, plenty of yeasties and german goodness. Overlay all that with a not quite subtle hoppyness, and you realize you are enjoing one of the planets more interesting and cutting edge brews. While everybody else is working on trendy wild ale/sour/lambic kinda things...Schneider and Bklyn have gone in a new and differant direction...love the result and the new "style"

Pours a dirty yellow straw color with a small white head. Lots of suspended yeast throughout the beer. The aroma is citrus with bready malt and a slight hop character. The flavor is yeast, lemon, bready malts and hops. I didn't think this one was as complex as the Brooklyn version. Medium mouthfeel and carbonation. Good drinkability.

My first observation with this beer is its murkyness, which I have to say places this brew as among the murkiest weizenbeers I have ever had, even for a weizenbock. A tan-peach concoction with about a half inch of head that recedes into a fine ring. Not the world's best looking brew, but this will become utterly irrelevant in a few moments.

The nose is exactly what I had predicted: a stellar combination of the wheat beer notes (wheat malt, banana, clove, herbal hops) and American hops, which give the brew a lovely citrus aroma (lemon and grapefruit).

Now this is a wheat beer whose extra hops make this truly greater than the sum of its parts. The soft wheat and banana notes are brought to the fore along with a tangy, citrussy blast of lemon and grapefruit, making for one refreshing brew indeed. Clove and herbal hops linger in the background. Medium bodied, slightly chewy.

A great summer brew that proves to be an excellent marriage of old and new styles of brewing. I will definitely be back for this brew many times over as the heat wave continues unabated...

Pours a sturdy head of 2" that dies down to ¼" of nice froth atop a hazy honey amber brew. Obviously unfiltered.

Citrusy hop smell is quite prevalent, also banana smell comes through with some floral and spice notes. Taste Follows through with banana notes - at first - while hops and citrus become more prevailing. Very interesting balance of hop to wheat creates an explosion of flavors. Is a tad hot on first taste, but future taste disguised the 8.2% ABV. Nice finish, great taste. Great beer.